Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Growing up is like an egg-and-spoon race in an obstacle course. You have to crawl up from bed at the crack of dawn, dash to school just before the gate closes, complete whatever homework your teachers assign you - like this one - and also take care of the family at the same time.

Hi, I forget to introduce myself. My name is P. L. I am 10 years old and in Primary 4 this year. I am glad to say that I have survived three years of primary school life and still counting.

Being the elder boy at home, I also need to juggle homework with housework. My mother says that it is my responsibility. I say it is a serious case of child abuse.

My main household chore is to take care of my younger brother who is in Primary 2. It is not easy to be big brother who is always being accused of being a big bully.

Sigh, I suppose this is all part of growing up. I just hope that the egg will taste yummy at the end of the race.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Below is the script of the project which I will be presenting at the coming Toastmasters Club meeting.

In a sense, I am killing two birds with one stone - below is a book review of the book "Notes from a Friend" by Anthony Robbins and also the script of my Toastmasters project.

"Notes from a Friend" is a very uplifting and good read. I strongly recommend that you head down to your local library or bookstore, grab the book and read. It may just be the book that change your destiny.

Enjoy!=====================

Three years ago, there was a lady who was at a low ebb in her life. She was preoccupied by thoughts of why life was unfair to her, of what she did not have, and of God’s denial.

Then destiny intervened. She walked into this room and found this group of well-meaning friends. They gave her the encouragement to face whatever challenges, not just speaking, that faced her.

This lady is me.

Greetings. In the Toastmasters journey, I learn not just the skills of public speaking. More than that, it opens my eyes to read extensive, to read with an open mind and opens the door to self-improvement. I learn that what happens to me is not God’s denial, but God’s delay. And I am grateful for the detour. Because of that, today I am a Toastmaster and also a wiser and happier person.

Tonight, I will like to pass the Toastmasters’ gift of sharing on and share with you three golden lessons to live our lives to the fullest. And I have used the book title “Notes from a Friend” written by the world renowned success coach Anthony Robbins. Like Anthony Robbins, I hoped my little speech today could encourage you to press on despite the many vicissitudes of life.

Golden Lesson Number 1. [Draw a curve line on the whiteboard]. Is this line concave or convex? It’s both depending on how you look at it.

You are what you believe. That is the easy part. The hard part is that you have to take absolute responsibility. For example, my dear friends, you can believe with all your heart that you are a fantastic public speaker. But would that belief alone make you a fabulous speaker? [Pause] No, you need to take responsibility. Taking responsibility will give you the power to be in control. By giving excuses such like I have no time to attend Toastmasters’ meeting or prepare speeches, this power will be taken away from you slowly and surely. By taking responsibility, you acknowledge that it is your action that determines how good a speaker you are. It gives you back the power to be in control.

A good example is Roger Bannister. At the time when people believed that it was not only impossible for a person to complete one mile in less than four minutes but also dangerous to the health of those who tried to do so, he chose to believe otherwise. He not just believed in it, he took responsibility for it. Roger Bannister was then a 25-year old medical student at Oxford. He trained hard and he approached his belief scientifically using his medical knowledge. On that fateful day, May 6, 1954, he raced and crossed the finish line with a time of 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds. It was his moment of vindication. The psychological barrier of 4 minute mile was broken forever.

Golden Lesson Number 2. Persistence pays. In whatever field that you may be, the key to success is to take consistent action every day, every minute, every moment. Every time you do something you learn from it and you will find a way to do it better next time. Doesn’t that sound familiar? It is just like doing our Toastmasters’ project.

By using this same formula, we have Colonel Sanders who built an empire of KFC restaurants all over the world. At the age of 65, Colonel Sanders’ one and only restaurant failed due to the opening of the new highway, Interstate 75 which diverted customers’ traffic from his restaurant. He took a meager $105 dollars from his first social security check. He then decided to sell his secret chicken recipe. He was a very, very, very persistent man and he stayed true to his path even after 1,009 “no”s. He succeeded eventually because he focused on the solution and not the problem. With each “no”, he learnt how to win a potential franchise in his next encounter.

The third golden lesson is the most important. It is to have goals in our lives. There are some people whom we all know who seem to be constantly lost in a fog of confusion. They go one way, then another. They try one thing, then shift to another. They move down one path, then retreat in the opposite direction. Their problem is simple, “they do not know what they want”. You cannot hit a target if you do not know what it is.

We need to set goals is to give our lives focus and to move us in the direction we would like to go. Ultimately, whether or not you achieve a goal is not half as important as the type of person you become in pursuit of it.

So my friends, I urge you to set goals in your life. Believe in yourself, take responsibility for your action and be persistent. I believe you will achieve a more fulfilling life with these three golden lessons.